Help Grow the Dirt Girls Greenhouse

After a two-year pandemic pause, it was thrilling to bring Dirt Girls back to life. Our spring season started April 18th and was filled with smiles. Why focus on smiles? According to a recent research report from the Wallace Foundation, 84% of parents they surveyed rank the statement, “Your child seems happy/likes attending,” as their #1 priority for Out of School (OST) programming. 

Seven participants wore spring smiles during our twice weekly sessions at New Tech High School. Although this was a new site for me to teach in, and an unfamiliar garden for most of the participants, we gradually developed a connection to the space and engaged in place-based learning. For example, kids had favorite “sit spots” where we would gather as a group or they could observe on their own or complete garden chores.

A few loved exploring in the bamboo ‘forest,’ while others preferred watering plants or watching the rosemary hedges for lizards.

Planting is always a favorite task. We started the season with sunflower seeds, followed by gladiolus bulbs and edible crops. The garden club advisors at New Tech High were generous with sharing their planting space. This allowed Dirt Girls to sow two ‘three-sisters’ beds (an interplanting of corn, beans, and squash).

We also planted a bed of sunflowers for seed saving, and a third containing a mix of edible herbs, vegetables and flowers for tasting (such as cilantro, pansies, radishes, potatoes, etc.). We even tried germinating redwood seeds with varying degrees of success (germination kits provided by One Tree Planted).